Seymour Durst

Seymour Bernard Durst (September 7, 1913 – May 15, 1995) was an American real estate investor and developer. He created the National Debt Clock.

Early life and education Durst was born in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, a son of Joseph Durst, a Jewish immigrant from Gorlice, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Poland),

His father was a tailor who arrived penniless to the United States, eventually becoming a successful dress manufacturer and then expanding into real estate management and development.

Seymour Durst was vocal about his beliefs that the government should not interfere in real estate transactions. However, his son and successor, Douglas Durst, received interest-free, government-issued Liberty Bonds under Governor George Pataki, and also used eminent domain to facilitate the family's growing real estate interests. The former subsidized the cost of building massive projects in both midtown and downtown Manhattan, and the latter enabled the Durst family to take holdout properties on West 42nd Street, where 4 Times Square and 1 Bryant Park were built.

Durst was also concerned with the national debt. In 1989, Durst created and installed the National Debt Clock on a Durst Organization property in order to draw attention to the then-$2.7 trillion debt.

The collection comprised more than 35,000 items, including historic photographs, maps, pamphlets, newspapers, books and New York City memorabilia.

Personal life In 1940, he married Bernice Herstein. They had four children: Robert Durst (19432022) – accused of three murders (acquitted in one on the grounds that the killing was self-defense but convicted of tampering with evidence by dismembering the corpse), which are fictionalized in the 2010 movie All Good Things, and the subject of a 2015 HBO series (The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst), as well as an episode of Law & Order and two episodes of Law and order SVU. Robert Durst was arrested in 2015 for the alleged murder of Susan Berman and was convicted on September 17, 2021. Douglas Durst (born 1944) – present chairman of The Durst Organization Wendy Durst Kreeger – philanthropist and writer Thomas Durst – philanthropist and writer

Bernice Herstein Durst (1918–1950) died in 1950 at the age of 32 as a result of falling or jumping off the roof of their family home in Scarsdale. It was never determined if the death was an accident or a suicide. Their son Robert has said that he witnessed the event; his brother, Douglas, has said that none of the children witnessed the accident. Durst never remarried.

Legacy After Durst's death, his son Douglas and nephew Jonathan (the son of his brother David) became more involved in the family business, The Durst Organization.